Saturday's shooting on Perry Street has not only left those in the midst of the gunfire fearful but is leaving gun violence prevention organizations like the Omega Lamplighters and the Tallahassee Urban League with questions now that a 15-year-old has been arrested.
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Local organizations address youth gun violence after Perry Street shooting injured four studentsThe arrest is further pushing their message that community support is necessary to address and prevent future violence.
Royle King, founder and CEO of the Omega Lamplighters, Inc., was just one street over when the shooting happened.
Eleven were shot. Four students hurt from three different schools at Leon County Schools.
"I was a street back so I could hear the gunshots very vividly and that fear went to worry for so many people who I knew were in that area, he said. "Things like this are becoming more normalized and when that happens, sure it's a news story but what do we do after it's not a news story? More and more of these occurrences are continuing to happen and the reality is that the severity of them is increasing and the youth are getting younger.
"Where does a 15-year-old get a gun from?" said Curtis Taylor, president and CEO of the Tallahassee Urban League.
Now, the call is shifting to community involvement.
It can't just be a couple of organizations. It's a community-wide thing everybody has to have a piece in this and that doesn't mean start an organization but how do we collaborate and leverage all of our resources to save our children?" King said.
This isn't Tallahassee's first experience with youth violence.
In September, three teens the youngest 14 and 15 were arrested in connection to a shooting at Governor's Square Mall.
According to the Leon County Sheriff's Office's 2020 Anatomy of a Homicide study, a majority of offenders were between 15 and 24 years old.
"They don't really understand that once you pull that trigger, your life is changed forever. Whatever problems you had, whatever argument you had, now it's turned into a tsunami, and you're not going to get around it," Taylor said.
Right now, the Omega Lamplighters are focusing on continuing this month's work at gun violence intervention at high schools and preparing to work with youth who have already been involved in the justice system through a new partnership with Link-Up Tally.
The two-year program is funded from a $92,000 grant from the City of Tallahassee.
The Tallahassee Urban League plans to continue its parenting classes, police forums and plans to put up billboards by the end of the year to prevent stolen guns.
"Tallahassee, this is just a typical iceberg. We have got to do a better job in parenting," Taylor said.
In addition to the message that everyone has a role in preventing youth gun violence, the Urban League is continuing to urge neighbors to not leave guns in their car and to say something if they see something.
Leon County Schools says counselors have been on campus available to connect with students.
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